Hosiery.



t. Hmnurr.

HOSIERY.

APPLICATION yman 1uLY19.1`915.y

1166611666 Apr. 16, 1916.

f D STATES P a. An f LIAIMI E. HINCHLIFF, 0F ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO BURSON MANUFAC- TUBING- COMPANY, F ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATIUN 0F ILLHVOIS.

HOSIERY.

Specification. of Letters Patent. mgmtedl-Apm 1&6, 11913 Applicationfiled July 19, 1915. Serial No. 40,665.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM E. HINCH- l Lirr, a citizen of the UnitedStates residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hosiery,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in knit hosiery, being moreparticularly applicable to ladies stockings. The object of the inventionis to produce a stocking which in service will be free from theobjection technically known as runs. or ladders It is a well known factthat the stitching of the hem at the upper end of the leg produces aweakening effect upon the loops of the fabric in the region of thestitching by reason of the hemming needle penetrating the loops, theresult of which is that during usage when a hose supporter has beenfastened to the hem, one or more of the loops will break usuall at thehem, producing a run or ladder, which sometimes extends down the legnearly or quite to the ankle portion of the stocking. This fault isparticularly inherent in stockings that are knitted from thread that hasbeen processed in such a manner as to render its surface comparativelyhard, sheer and smooth.

My present invention is the result of an effort to obviate this defectin stockings of the general character referred to and con'- sists,generally stated, in knitting the upperportion of the leg for asubstantial distance, of av rough, unprocessed thread or yarn to receivethe hose supporter, this rough or unprocessed yarn producing somewhatthe edect of a fulled fabric, the rough yarns or threads of which engageeach other with considerable friction, so that, even if a breakoccurs-in one or two loops, such break or run will not extend down intothe main leg 'portion that is knitted of hard, smooth or sheer thread. Ifind that the eliciency of the stocking to resist the formation of runsor ladders is enhanced if the same be provided with a relatively narrowhem, sonarrow that the hose supporter will b'e'fastened at a point belowthe linev of the hem.

To assist in a clear understanding of the invention, I have illustratedin the accompanying drawing a ladys 'stocking embodying my improvementsthe figure being an elevational view of the stocking laid fiat.

Referring to the drawing,'5 designates the foot portion and 6 thel majorleg portion, these parts being knitted of a comparatively hard, smoothprocessed thread with the eX- ception of the heel, toe and under footportions which are reinforced by unprocessed` thread. At the point orline designated by 7, a thread of dierentcharacter is introduced to theneedles of the machine to form' the upper leg portion 8, this threadhaving a rough or unprocessed yarn surface and,

when dyed, producing a result somewhat similar to fulling. rIhe upperpart of the tion is made more proof against runs,

especially' where not weakened by a line or lines of stitching, as in ahem, below ythe point of fastening of the hose supporter, and if a runstarts in the portion\ 8, it will not extend as far as the line 7forming the juncture of the smooth and rough'threads." By

'making the hem 10 narrow, as described, the

I fabric is not weakened by stitching below the point o-f fasteningofthe hose supporter.

While I have described the inventionas intended chiefly for use in4connection with ladies" hosiery, it should be understood that the sameis not limited thereto but may usefully be embodied' in mens andchildrens hosiery to improve the Wearing qualities thereof.

I claim:

A stocking of the character described having a lower lleg portionknittedof smooth, sheer yarn, and the upper ortion knitted of a rehat/ivelsofter yarn j y introducing the latter in t e course of 'knitting so asnot to break the continuity thereof, thel upper knit portion havinganarrow hem at its upper end of sucli width as practically to insure thepoint of fastening of the hose supporter below the line of said hem,whereby the pullin strain of the hose supporter is distributedivergingly lengthwise with considerable uniformity to loops of equalstrength, thereby preventing runs in the stoc WILLIAM E. HINCI-ILIFF.

